Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 137 / Friday, July 17, 1998 / Notices 38679

Louis, Missouri. For more information,

contact Leon Katcharian Office of

Marine Safety at (202) 314–6458 or

Terry Williams, NTSB Office of Public

Affairs at (202) 314–6100.

Dated: July 14, 1998.

Rhonda Underwood,

Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 98–19105 Filed 7–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7533–01–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72–16 (50–338/339]

Virginia Electric and Power Co. and

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative;

North Anna Independent Spent Fuel

Storage Installation; Exemption

I

Virginia Electric and Power Company

(Virginia Power) and Old Dominion

Electric Cooperative (collectively, the

licensee) hold Materials License SNM–

2507 for receipt and storage of spent

fuel from the North Anna Power Station

at an independent spent fuel storage

installation (ISFSI) located on the North

Anna Power Station site. The facility is

located in Louisa County, Virginia.

II

Pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) may

grant exemptions from the requirements

of the regulations in 10 CFR Part 72 as

it determines are authorized by law, will

not endanger life or property or the

common defense and security, and are

otherwise in the public interest.

Section 72.82(e) of 10 CFR Part 72

requires each licensee to provide a

report of preoperational test acceptance

criteria and test results to the

appropriate NRC Regional Office with a

copy to the Director, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, at least

30 days prior to receipt of spent fuel or

high-level radioactive waste for storage

in an ISFSI. The purpose of the 30-day

waiting period is to allow NRC an

opportunity to review test results prior

to initial operation of the ISFSI. If an

exemption from the requirement of 10

CFR 72.82(e) for a 30-day waiting period

was granted, the licensee still would be

required to submit the necessary report.

However, with an exemption the

licensee could start receiving fuel at the

ISFSI before the end of the 30-day

period.

III

By letter dated June 12, 1998, the

licensee requested an exemption,

pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the

requirement of 10 CFR 72.82(e) to

submit the preoperational test

acceptance criteria and test results

report to NRC at least 30 days prior to

receipt of fuel at the ISFSI. Specifically,

the licensee requested to submit the

report at least 3 days prior to receipt of

fuel at the ISFSI. The licensee’s

exemption request to reduce the 30-day

waiting period was based on the

licensee’s need to assure the availability

of adequate storage space in the North

Anna spent fuel pool to support a

refueling outage of North Anna Power

Station, Unit 1, in September 1998. To

meet that schedule, spent fuel must be

removed from the pool and loaded into

a dry storage cask prior to the placement

of new fuel into the spent fuel pool in

late July 1998. Weather-related delays

have hampered completion of

construction and testing of the ISFSI

prior to the end of June 1998. Thus,

completion of construction and testing

will occur less than 30 days prior to the

need to load the first cask and transport

it to the ISFSI.

NRC conducted numerous inspections

of the North Anna ISFSI during its

construction, as documented in part in

NRC Inspection Report 50–338/97–09,

50–339/97–09, 72–16/97–03 and

Inspection Report No. 50–338/97–11,

50–339/97–11, 72–16/97–04. NRC staff

also observed selected portions of the

licensee’s preoperational dry run and

walkthrough activities which were

conducted between June 8 and 18, 1998.

By letter dated June 30, 1998, as

supplemented by letter dated July 7,

1998, the licensee submitted its report

of preoperational test acceptance criteria

and test results. The preoperational tests

conducted by the licensee included,

among other things, the actual exercise

of the licensee’s written procedures for

loading and unloading the storage casks.

The licensee reviewed the results of

these tests and made changes as

necessary to affected procedures. During

its onsite inspections in June 1998, NRC

observed the licensee’s validation of the

acceptability of these procedures and is

satisfied with the results.

IV

As discussed in the above paragraphs

and based on its oversight and

inspection of Virginia Power’s ISFSI

preoperational testing activities, NRC

finds that Virginia Power has

satisfactorily addressed all of the

outstanding safety issues associated

with cask loading, handling, and

storage. The results of the NRC’s

activities described above confirm there

is adequate assurance that the ISFSI can

safely perform its intended function and

that Virginia Power has the necessary

equipment and procedures in place to

safely conduct activities associated with

storing spent fuel at the ISFSI.

Accordingly, NRC has determined in

accordance with 10 CFR 72.7 that this

exemption is authorized by law, will not

endanger life or property or the common

defense and security, and is otherwise

in the public interest. Therefore, NRC

hereby grants the licensee an exemption

from the 30-day waiting period required

by 10 CFR 72.82(e) as requested by the

licensee in its letter dated June 12, 1998.

The documents related to this

proposed action are available for public

inspection and for copying (for a fee) at

the NRC Public Document Room, 2120

L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20555

and at the Local Public Document Room

located at the University of Virginia,

Alderman Library, Charlottesville,

Virginia 22903.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, NRC has

determined that granting this exemption

will have no significant impact on the

quality of the human environment (63

FR 36277).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 9th day

of July, 1998.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

William F. Kane,

Director,

Spent Fuel Project Office,

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and

Safeguards.

[FR Doc. 98–19087 Filed 7–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

DATES: Friday, July 17, 1998.

PLACE: NCR Headquarters, 11555

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.

STATUS: Public and Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Week of July 13

Friday, July 17

9:30 a.m.

Public Meeting on Stakeholders’

Concern (Public Meeting)

(Contact: Annette Vietti-Cook, 301–

415–1969)

(Location: ACRS Conference Room)

(Two White Flint North, Room T2B3)

11:30 a.m.

Affirmation Session (Public Meeting)

*(Please Note: This item will be

affirmed immediately following the

conclusion of the preceding

meeting.)

a: Qivera Mining Company—